questions about making an alage scrubber

M

mmfrock

Reefing newb
Hi everyone,

I am considering making an alage scrubber, per some advice from others on this site. I've definately looked up some ways to build this online but i still have a few questions.

1. How long should the lights be run on the alage screen?

2. How do you plumb this thing so that if the power goes out, your tank doesnt get completely emptied into your sump? I am still very unclear on this.

3. My tank does not currently have a sump but if i build it, i plan to build the alage scrubber in a 10 gallon tank that will sit below my 29 gallon. How do i siphon the water out without having an overflow...do i use a pump to pump it down into the alage scrubber tube and then another pump to pump it back up to the tank? I am concerned about just using a gravity siphon for it b/c theres nothing to break the siphon if the power goes out on the return pump. So confused here, please help.
 
To break the siphon in case of a power outage you drill a small hole just below the water line and then make sure the buck its draining into has enough room to take up the water before the water level gets tot he hole.

You dont want to two pumps because they can never be set to pump the same amount of water, one will always work a little harder. That will eventually cause one tank to overflow and other to be too empty. So you always have a return pump (with a valve to dial it back if need be) and an overflow whose rate will be determined by the rate at which the return pump moves the water.

Also from personal experience, make sure the tank where the scrubber has a really good splash guard. Mine sprays water all the time and is a HUGE hassle. I really need to rebuild the whole thing because of it.
 
Great! This is all great advice! I really dont want to make one because of the location of my tank, the fact that it's small and the alage scrubber sump will not be concealed! But I dont think i have much of a choice...i've tried everything else.

So will the drain line be made out of hard pvc tubing or soft pliable tubing? And that is the tube i drill a small hole in to break the siphon? Hum...I hope I'm picturing it right.

Thank you!!
 
I run mine for 15 hours a day, opposite of my tank. I would make the drain line out of hard PVC if that is the line the algae scrubber will be attached to.

You drill the small hole in the U shaped tube of the overflow on the side that stick into the tank
 
I think I get you. THanks so much for all the helpful advice. Can you stand by as i build it, lol! You've helped a lot!
 
OK my dad and I are building an alage scrubber this weekend. Another question came up...once i build it, does that mean i can remove my protein skimmer? doesnt an alage scrubber do the same thing and more?
 
OK, new question... So we've halfway built my algae scrubber. We're using a maxi jet 1200 on the return line. However, we have put a valve in the return line so that we can balance the drain flow. Will restricting the flow with the valve hurt the pump? I am going to buy a maxi-jet 900 tomorrow to see if that works better, but right now the 1200 with a little restriction works nicely. Any thoughts, please?
 
You can put a restriction valve after the pump with no problem, but putting it on the drain line will eventually cause issues.
 
Oh here's a pic of what i have so far...
 

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I still don't know about this ya'all. I am having a hard time matching the drain flow with the reuturn flow. I'm using a 1200 maxi jet pump with a gate valve after it to regulate and it's incredibly touchy. I hardly got sleep last night for fear that i was going to wake up with an overflowing show tank. Everything I read made it seem so much easier than this set up really is. I have come across other problems in the making as well that the directions on ppl's forums mention nothing about.

My question is that once algae starts acutally growing on the screen how is that going to effect the drain flow, b/c that in turn will cause me to have to adjust the return flow. I can see myself having to constantly adjust this thing and that makes me super nervous. Especially if i go on vacation or away for a short weekend trip. I have a person who comes to take care of my tank while im gone, but, they dont know anything other than what i teach them, so it's kindof scary knowing this contraption can overflow my tank. I'm considering lowering my tank lvl water to accomodate this.
I am also trying to figure out the evaporation rate. Normally i can tell b/c my water lvl is high near the black trim of my tank and i can tell when it gets below that i need to add fresh water. But now...im not sure what i can gauge to know this.

Please give your thoughts.
 
How are you moving water down to your scrubber?

And the water level in your tank should be constant now, what will change is the level of water in your sump. So mark a line on the tank and fill back to that line.
 
Yes its very confusing. If you look closely in the pic i posted, the red valve is completely open all the time and it is on the drain line that is working by a gravity siphon. The yellow valve in the lef tof the picture is on the return line and it is incredibly touchy. It is restricting the flow of the maxi jet 1200 that is returning water to the tank. The sump level keeps fluxuating, i cannot get it to become constant. That's my problem...this whole set up is way more of a pain than ppl lead you to believe on sites that tell you how to build it. I just hope it actually works and does what it says it will do, then itll be worth it.
 
The level of water in the sump will change whenever you adjust how much is allowed to return to the tank. But the level of water in the display tank should be constant. All the evaporation is also going to be seen in the changing water level of the sump too, not the display tank.
 
i am in the process of building an alge scrubber also. my plans are slightly different. i am draining the tank with 2 - 1" return lines into part 1 of the fuge witch houses the protein skimmer. then it flows over into the second part that has an alge scrubber powered with its own pump. then the third section is a bubble trap that emptys into a 55 gal. tank with my live rock and macro alge. its not fully built yet but with the scrubber pumping its own water and emptying back into its self would for sure reduce the risk of overflowing the dt. i understand what you have built and i thought about the same but didnt want to play with valves all the time and risk an overflow.
doubtful this helped you with what you have but its another option to look into if you decide to change.
 
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